Cruz Pedregon Grabs Top Qualifying Spot at Virginia NHRA Nationals
Cruz Pedregon qualified first in the NHRA Fuel Funny Car class for this weekend’s Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals POWERade Drag Racing in Petersburg (Richmond), VA. Pedregon’s 4.041 second E.T. at 306.88 MPH put his Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara out in front during the third round of Qualifying on Saturday. Cruz is currently sixth in the Countdown to the Championship. He is 115 points behind points leader Tim Wilkerson and is only 43 points behind second place Jack Beckman. With a good performance this weekend, Cruz can dramatically improve his POWERade Championship Point Standing.
Tony Pedregon ran his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala to a second place qualifying position. Tony’s quickest run happened in the last round of qualifying on Saturday with a 4.041 E.T. at 305.22 MPH. The third place qualifier, and third driver to hit a 4.041 E.T. was Mike Neff in his Old Spice Ford Mustang. Melanie Troxel qualified fourth with a 4.047 E.T. at 309.98 MPH, the fastest speed so far this weekend. Troxel's performance was consistently fast in each round of qualifying and could have a a very good weekend if she maintains consistency. Ashley Force took the fifth qualifying spot with a 4.048 E.T. at 304.46 MPH. The top five qualifiers have an elapsed time spread of just 0.007, which will make for some close racing this weekend.
ESPN2 will air the Virginia NHRA Nationals Eliminations from 7:30 PM to 10:30 ET on Sunday October 12th, and will replay Eliminations on Friday October 24th from 2:00 AM to 4:00 AM ET.
First round pairings and qualifying results:
Cruz Pedregon Advance Auto Parts Solara 4.041 306.88
Tony Bartone Canidae Pet Food Monte Carlo 4.157 292.71
Tony Pedregon Q Horsepower Impala 4.041 305.22
Jerry Toliver Rockstar Energy Drinks Charger 4.125 299.00
Mike Neff Old Spice Mustang 4.041 304.80
Ron Capps NAPA Auto Parts Charger 4.088 295.98
Melanie Troxel ProCare RX Charger 4.047 309.98
Gary Scelzi Mopar Oakley Charger 4.081 301.00
Ashley Force Castrol GTX Mustang 4.048 304.46
Tim Wilkerson Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala 4.079 302.48
Robert Hight AAA of So. Cal Mustang 4.056 304.32
John Force Castrol GTX Mustang 4.078 298.21
Jack Beckman Valvoline/MTS Charger 4.059 301.54
Del Worsham CSK Impala 4.078 296.70
Tommy Johnson Jr. Monster Energy Drink Charger 4.070 303.64
Jeff Arend DHL Solara 4.078 302.55
Ready or not? NHRA POWERade Series Drivers Anticipate Summer Heat as Tour Moves on to Chicago
Air temperature, altitude and dew point all play factors in preparation for NHRA POWERade Series teams. Some feel prepared for the summer stretch, including Funny Car’s Cruz Pedregon, who announced a switch to a Toyota Solara body before Topeka. He’s confident that his Advance Auto Parts team will adapt to the new body and make it not only work, but be successful this year.
“With the way (crew chief Rahn Tobler) runs this car and from what we’ve determined we’ll...
Read the full article at Motorsports Journal
From Indy to Charlotte, NHRA racers work to spread the message
It may be the busiest non-NHRA-racing weekend of the year, but many teams of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series are from sitting out around the backyard barbecuing steaks. From Indianapolis to Charlotte, many of NHRA's top drivers and teams are taking advantage of the intense focus on the weekend's Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 to help bring more awareness to NHRA drag racing.
From shop tours to facility visits, from the media centers down to pit road, some of NHRA's best and brightest will show the circle-track crowd what makes the NHRA world go around.
In Indianapolis, where the 92nd annual Indy 500 will take the green flag at 1 p.m. Sunday, but there's plenty going on the day before. Melanie Troxel, recent...
Tags: Cruz Pedregon, John Force, Melanie Troxel, Tony PedregonFunny Car chaos knots competitive category as tour hits Vegas
Cruz Pedregon leads the Funny Car points standings for the first time since April 25, 1998. Seven different drivers have reached a final round in the category with just four races in the books, including Del Worsham, who broke a two-year drought with his win in Houston after not making the field at the first two races of 2008.
Need a story line? It's take your pick in Funny Car, where...
Tags: Cruz PedregonNHRA: Winning Funny Car built for safety
John Force proved you don't have to slow down to be safe in the NHRA.
Driving a revolutionary Funny Car designed to help bring the class into the 21st century, Robert Hight defeated Cruz Pedregon by 7 feet in the Funny Car final to give John Force Racing its 18th victory at Auto Club Raceway.
Hight clocked in 4.861 seconds at 284.39 mph in the NHRA season opener, which was slightly quicker than...
Read full story by Damian Dottore in The Orange County Register
Tags: Cruz Pedregon, Force, Funny Car, Hight, John Force, NHRA, Pedregon, race, racing, Robert Hight, safetyForce returns to action at Phoenix test and immediately runs low
John Force is back! He will continue testing at Firebird Raceway through Wednesday.
From NHRA's Rob Geiger:
Climbing into a Funny Car for the first time since his devastating accident Sept. 23 in Dallas, 14-time champion John Force needed just one warm-up pass before blasting his way to the forefront of the National Time Trials with the quickest and fastest pass of the four-day test session. Force's 4.782 at 327.51 mph was so good he ended up out in the Arizona desert past the final turn-off, but the most prolific Funny Car driver of all time was still smiling when he emerged unscathed from his dusty Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.
[...]
New Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon was the closest to Force but he was almost a tenth of a second back with a best of 4.869 at 278.98 mph in his Q Racing Monte Carlo R/T. Gary Scelzi was next with a 4.879 at 318.02 mph in his Mopar/Oakley Charger R/T, while Cruz Pedregon (4.959) and Jerry Toliver (4.992) also dipped below five seconds on the day.
Gary Scelzi and Cruz Pedregon try to make Main at Chili Bowl
January 13, 2008 by Robert
Filed under NHRA, Racing News
Comments Off
Funny Car drivers Gary Scelzi and Cruz Pedregon attempted to make the main event at the 22nd annual Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla on Saturday. Despite both drivers having stellar sprint car driving teammates, neither placed high enough to advance to the A-main race.
Read more about their attempt at NHRA
Tags: Cruz Pedregon, Dodge, Funny Car, Gary Scelzi, NHRA, Pedregon, race, ScelziGary Scelzi to race midget car at the Chili Bowl
Four-time NHRA POWERade champion Gary Scelzi will be racing midget car at the Chili Bowl Nationals. Scelzi will be racing against fellow Top Fuel Funny Car driver Cruz Pedregon in the event (Cruz Pedregon Set to Race in Chili Bowl)...
Gary Scelzi's Chili Bowl driver page
Tags: Cruz Pedregon, Dodge, Funny Car, Gary Scelzi, Mopar, motorsports, NHRA, Pedregon, Powerade, race, racing, Scelzi, Top Fuel, Top Fuel Funny Car